A Review of ‘Saint Rose’: A middling study on marriage and martyrdom
A despondent woman prepares for a family event in a tense house, while longing for deliverance.
‘Saint Rose’: A middling study on marriage and martyrdom
Cast: Ghada Basma, Sharon Chepkwemoi Watoka, Reina Nakib, Tala Nakib, Haitham Atme
Critic’s Rating: 3 Stars out of 5
Director: Zayn Alexandre
Duration: 13 minutes
Genre: Drama, Short
Language: Arabic (with subtitles in English), Turkish (with subtitles in English)
Release: 2024
What’s it about?
A despondent woman prepares for a family event in a tense house, while longing for deliverance.
Review:
Saint Rose is a moderately engaging Drama Short depicting unhappiness in the lead up to what should be a joyous familial occasion. Quiet visuals, diegetic audio and terse dialogue make for a fairly intriguing combination as the film introduces us to the melancholic and frustrated life of a matriarch. We get a series of revealing glimpses as the lady protagonist prepares for a major life event, indicating that all is not well within her tense domicile.
The movie opens with the stylishly-dressed Rose (Ghada Basma) arranging her drawing room, presumably for the arrival of some guests. We hear the Imam’s chant from a nearby mosque as the lady of the house adds some embellishments to her opulent living space. This, to make the interior impressive and welcoming. However, it seems that her bathroom is her actual sanctuary.
While in the sacred space of this water closet, Rose partakes of unhealthy habits in an apparent attempt to keep her spirits buoyant. Her domestic help (Sharon Chepkwemoi Watoka) attends to her on the sly and is perhaps the only one in the household whom she trusts. Mistress and maid also go about readying a preferred beverage, with which to greet the expected party. However, will all of Rose’s efforts go appreciated?
Visual and auditory clues indicate that the engagement ceremony of Rose’s daughter is imminent. But while the mother-in-law-to-be sincerely goes about her duties, it seems her mounting personal sadness is overwhelming. Will Rose be able to put on a brave face for the sake of her family or will she give in to a desire for an escape? And in what form will this departure take?
This film’s writer-director Zayn Alexandre employs an effectively subtle mode of story-telling. In so doing, the filmmaker induces the viewers’ participation while respecting their cognition. Alexandre imparts personalities to some people who are not even seen on screen. This, while keeping the audience wondering whereto the heroine’s behaviour will lead. Meanwhile, the film’s star delivers a pretty convincing turn as the damsel in distress, which is augmented by sensibly-retrained camera-work and commendable sound. In conclusion, it is safe to say that the audience is in for a mildly rewarding meditation in contradiction, irony and the human spirit.
